A recipe excerpted from Quick and Easy Vegan Bake Sale By Carla Kelly (The Experiment, dist. by Workman/April 2011.

 

 

 

Just as the title says, your favorite jam is baked into a cookie, with a cute thumbprint filled with more jam. Overload? Maybe, but it’s your choice of jam. The cookie part of these isn’t overly sweet; the idea when eating is to get a little of the jam filling with each bite, which makes them taste sweeter.

 

Makes about 24 cookies

 

1⁄3 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 tablespoons vegan shortening

1⁄3 cup rice milk

¼ cup of your favorite jam

1 tablespoon ground flax seeds

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2½ cups spelt flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons jam, as above, for the thumbprints

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

 

1)      Preheat the oven to 375°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2)     In a large bowl, cream together the granulated sugar, oil, and shortening until light and fluffy.

3)     Whisk in the milk, jam, flax seeds, and vanilla extract for about 2 minutes to distribute the jam really well.

4)     Sift in the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda. Mix to form a firm dough.

5)     Cover and chill for 10 to 15 minutes to enable easier handling.

6)     With dampened hands, scoop the dough into tablespoon-size balls, flatten between your hands to form disks 2 inches in diameter, and place 2 inches apart on the prepared sheets.

7)     Push the top of one thumb gently into the center of each cookie to form an indentation.

8)     Bake for 7 minutes, then remove the baking sheet from the oven. If necessary, use the back of a ½-teaspoon measure to re-indent the center of each cookie. Scoop ½ teaspoon of jam into each indentation. Return to the oven to bake for a further 3 to 4 minutes; the cookies will be lightly browned underneath.

9)     Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then let cool completely on wire racks.

Once completely cool, and just prior to serving, dust lightly with a little confectioners’ sugar.